May 6, 2026 by Geri Duff
This is Bertha Hobart Stringer in her American Red Cross Motor Corps uniform in 1943. Bertha was no stranger to uniforms. She organized the first Hingham Girl Scout Troop in 1917 and the first Hingham Girl Scout Sailing “Mariner” Troop in 1935. During WWII she was deeply involved in Red Cross work, driving the Hingham ambulance and working on Red Cross projects. She drove one of the ambulances that responded to the Cocoanut Grove Fire in Boston.
When she ran the Mariner Troop during the war years, she faced restrictions because the military had strict rules about civilians sailing in the area, including no overnights on the harbor islands which the girls loved to do. This photo and Bertha’s Girl Scout uniform are in the archives of the Hingham Girl Scout House.